Nunostrat returns



Good news - Nunostrat has come back from the menders. It now has a nice new nut properly cut rather than the God awful mess of a brass thing that I put on there years ago and has had a proper set up.

The main reason it went it was it just didn't sound right, the bridge pickup sounded woolly almost like it was being played through a Wah-Wah that was held cocked open but not in a treble boost position like someone like Schenker or Satriani would do.

So my friendly repairer - who is a great guy based at Music Workshop in Ramsgate if anyone reading this is close enough to consider him - had a look and found a little gremlin which was a little strand of wire that was shorting out across the tone control - so much for my neat soldering. However he was complimentary of the coil tapping etc. I'd done. Also he has subtly re positioned the pickup as well since it's really a Gibson spacing which isn't great for a Fender bridge / scale so he has moved it fractionally lower to help a treble bias on it.

Nunostrats spec and history

This is a home assembled bitsacaster which I started building with my Dad about 1980/1981 when I was about 18. It was influenced then but Alan Holdsworth and that I'd already butchered my Columbus Strat copy that was my main guitar then to have a humbucker in the bridge position - I invented the superstrat you know... er actually I copied the idea from the guitarist who had been in Steppenwolf I think.

Body - English Ash, roughly routed for normal Strat pickups and a fixed non-trem bridge when we got it. It was soon attacked by me to house humbuckers and to enlarge the cavity for a four control layout. Stained with some Ronseal product.
Neck - maple with rosewood fingerboard, it has a funny two tone "skunk stripe" up the back, odd as it's a rosewood board, normally you only get skunks on maple boards. It's a typical 70s style large headstock and bullet truss. Neither neck nor body were Fender. I think they both came from a company called Touchstone Tonewoods I'd seen advertise in a magazine. Finished with teak oil and wax
Pick guard is hand made by my Dad to my design - I think he sourced the plastic.
Tuners - currently Sperzel locking ones, originally it had Schallers on.
Bridge - a Mighty Mite chrome plated brass one. Brass ferrules on the reverse for string anchoring.

My Dad mated the neck and body and positioned the bridge.

Pickups - once had Dimarzio PAFS, then one of them went into the Columbus Strat and an Ibanez replaced that. Then it had a Shadow guitar synth on it for a while.

When I refinished it, I thought - this looks a bit like Nuno Bettencourts guitar (ex-Extreme) so it was christened Nunostrat.

Pickups - from Swineshead pickups. XBuckers - wood bobbins in mahogany that almost match the stain. I replaced all the pots and it has coil taps on the tone controls.

So up to date - the brass nut I fitted and cut replaced and now with 10s on rather than tow rope 12s I had on in an attempt to detune.

Comments

  1. Wowwee what a story... Nunostrat hehehe I gotta show Mr. J this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ummmm, How many Strats are there and how on Gods green earth do you tell the difference?

    Yours sounds lovely, but is is different from a Fender Stratocaster? They look almost identical.

    ReplyDelete

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